Design and Analysis of Four Different Current Leads for Superconducting DC Energy Pipeline

Superconducting energy pipeline is a new type of hybrid energy transmission cable. Current leads are an indispensable part of the superconducting device, and their heat leakage accounts for more than 50% of the total heat load of the system. In this paper, the process of optimal design, simulation analysis, and heat leakage test of current leads in superconducting energy pipeline are presented. Based on the quasi-analytical numerical method, four current leads with different structures and heat transfer area have been fabricated. To verify the design, a heat leakage measurement platform was built based on the temperature gradient method. The temperature profile of the current leads was measured to calculate their heat leakage. The experimental results verify the validity of the design method, and prove that the thermal performance of current leads cooled by liquid nitrogen bath can be optimized by increasing the heat transfer area.